


Boyfriends

by WhatMoreIsThereToSay



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, New student Jackson, One Shot, side namjin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-04-09
Packaged: 2018-06-01 07:31:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6508630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatMoreIsThereToSay/pseuds/WhatMoreIsThereToSay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>JB is shy, not extremely shy but certainly not outgoing. He's focused and he's going to be successful in the music business some day. You know the saying, 'work hard, play harder'? Well, in the last few years JB has been 'work hard, work harder.' Who better than quirky, energetic Jackson Wang to remind him that taking a break is important too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Boyfriends

**Author's Note:**

> Hey lovelies, this one is a HS AU request from a comment on one of my other stories by user sehunswhale! Hope you enjoy <3

Jackson was outgoing. He was friendly and talkative and brave in social situations, but Jackson was also new to this high school and therefore an automatic outsider. He was excited to be in a place with a world class fencing program and foreign language classes that his old school didn’t have. When he enrolled, the student tour guide had gushed about the music program, how it was the best in the area and one of the top 10 in the country. Jackson loved music, especially music in the languages that he was learning. He didn’t play any instruments and he didn’t sing very well, but he loved music and dancing so he thought maybe he’d take a few classes or join a club. But that would all happen when he got settled in and made some friends. For the moment, he just needed to find his English seminar in room 237.  
Jackson noticed immediately that morning that the numbering system for the classrooms had a very specific pattern that made absolutely no sense. The even numbered classrooms were on the east side of the building and the odd on the west. 100s were math and science classrooms on the top floor, 200s were languages on the first floor, arts were in the basement and had the numbers 1 to 99, and everything else was a 300 on the second floor. But he was on the first floor on the west side of the building with all the other odd numbered 200s and he couldn’t for the life of him find 237. Class was beginning in just a few minutes and he was starting to panic because being introduced as the new student was bad enough. Being introduced as the new student who got lost and was late would be a nightmare.  
After the third time of wandering up and down the hallway, reading every label meticulously, he spotted another student sitting against the wall with a textbook spread out beside him and a laptop on his lap.

  
“Excuse me?” He said, inching up beside him shyly and tapping on his shoulder. The guy looked up, pulling his headphones off and staring up at Jackson in confusion.  
He explained that he needed to be in class soon and that he couldn’t find the room, but the guy just stared at him, head tilted slightly to the side. He kept going, talking about how he was new and he had gone to an international school before, how it was much easier to get around in that place and he was pretty sure he was in the right hallway. He wasn’t sure how long he talked but eventually the guy held up a hand to stop Jackson, chewing on his lower lip.

  
“My English isn’t very good, you speak Korean right?” The guy asked in his native language, his voice wavering with a little bit of embarrassment. Here was an underclassman speaking fluent (and rapid) English when after a few years of classes, he could barely speak a sentence.

  
Jackson, who hadn’t realized he was speaking in English in the first place, apologized profusely and explained the situation in Korean this time, an embarrassed flush in his cheeks.

  
“Yeah, it’s the lecture hall. You have to go into the stairwell at the end of the hallway and there will be a door on the other side.”  
Jackson thanked him, apologizing again and bowing as he turned and hurried off down the hall. It wasn’t until later, sitting in the back of his class after going through the same introduction activity (My name is Jackson I’m from Hong Kong I’m fluent in 4 languages I came here for the fencing team), that he realized that he hadn’t asked for the boy’s name.

~~~~~

  
The next time JB saw the underclassman, he was sitting at one of the small, corner tables in the cafeteria working on a composition for a class he was taking through a local university. He’d been mixing music in his bedroom for a few years now, ever since he’d taken one of the intro to music production the school offered. He had finished his lunch, pushing aside the dishes and spreading out his notes and laptop in front of him. He was lost in focus when the other student sat down quietly at the other end of the table, only glancing up in surprise when he was spoken to.

  
“Hi, I wanted to introduce myself since I didn’t actually do it earlier… And I wanted to thank you again for your help.” He said, holding out a hand and shaking JB’s. “I’m Jackson.”

  
“JB, don’t worry about it. This place takes a while to navigate.” JB assured him, smiling softly and adjusting his headphones comfortably around his neck.

“Seriously, it’s like a maze! I need a map,” he said, grinning. “I think I’ll graduate next school year and I’ll get lost on the way to the ceremony because I still won’t know my way around.”

JB frowned. If Jackson was graduating the following year, that meant they were the same age. “Next year? Are you a third year?”

Jackson nodded. “What about you?”

JB ignored the question, looking Jackson up and down. “Aigoo, you look so young! You’re really a third year?”

Jackson nodded, pouting. “It’s because I’m short. And I’m not even that short!.”

JB enjoyed his alone time during lunch, during most of his free time. He had friends in his classes and online, friends in the music program that he sent his music to for suggestions, but he preferred to work in peace instead of joining Jinyoung and the others who usually ate on the grounds or in one of the classrooms together. However, he found himself laughing at Jackson’s pout, closing the lid of his laptop and setting it aside for the last 10 minutes or so before he had to head to class.

“You’re pretty short, but your face is young. I should have known you weren’t an underclassmen, most of them aren’t fluent in languages like you. How did you learn?”

Jackson launched into a description of his old school, and American International school in Hong Kong where he learned English fluently. He talked about his family in Shanghai, where he’d picked up the Shanghai dialect surprisingly easily even though he wasn’t totally fluent. JB complimented him on his Korean and Jackson brushed it off politely, saying that it wasn’t perfect but he’d been working really hard to get better. He studied Korean all throughout middle school and high school, he told JB, but he’d put a lot more work into it lately because he was changing schools.

“You’re the first friend I’ve made,” Jackson admitted happily as JB started to pack up his things. “I mean, you’re the first person who has been really nice to me and actually talked to me.”

JB’s cheeks colored at that. “You’ll make friends fast, you’ve got an easygoing personality. People here will really like you.” He patted Jackson’s shoulder, saying a quick goodbye and heading to class.

When JB didn’t see Jackson again for almost a week except for a glimpse in the hallway here and there, he concluded that he had been right.

~~~~~

Jackson loved the outdoors. He wished his classes and his fencing lessons could all be outside, that he could fall asleep looking at the stars every night. Needless to say, as long as it was nice, Jackson did most of his studying outdoors at his old school. Since they had moved, though, Jackson hadn’t had time to look for a park or outdoor cafe like he had in Hong Kong. So one Saturday he picked up the novel he had to read for his Literature class, did a quick Google search, and headed to a nearby public park.  
Right next to the entrance there was a big playground with a few tables, but Jackson decided that he needed some place a bit more peaceful so he kept exploring. There was a big field in the middle and bike paths running into a wooded area at the other end. He figured there was a picnic spot or seating area that would be pretty empty this early in the morning, so he kept following the path. He found exactly what he expected, a big clearing surrounded by trees with wooden tables scattered around it, but it was a little less empty than he expected.

  
“JB?” He called as he got closer to the person perched at one of the tables with a leather bound book in his hand, recognizing a familiar face.

The elder looked up, startled at first but quickly offering Jackson a smile. “Hi,” JB said in English, laughing at the look on Jackson’s face.

“What do you mean your English isn’t good, that’s the best greeting I’ve ever received.” Jackson teased back, sitting down on the other side of the table. “What are you doing?”

JB hesitated for a second, glancing down at the notebook. “Oh, just working on a project for class. You?”

“I’ve got some reading to do so I figured I’d find a pretty place to do it.”

“I love coming out here when it’s nice. You’re welcome to stick around while you read, I’m just going to be…” JB pointed down at his notebook, not sure they were close enough for him to spill about his lofty dreams of writing and producing music yet.

“Sure, yeah! Thanks!”

They sat in silence doing their work, but Jackson’s presence was oddly comforting. He’d sigh or hum or laugh at whatever was happening in his book, loud enough that JB could hear but not in an obnoxious or even distracting way. It was like white noise, like the birds chirping and the wind in the trees, and JB soon found himself writing about comfort.

_“It’s all new but it’s familiar, like hearing your favorite song miles away from home._   
_You’re bright and everything is clearer, like I know more than I did before._   
_And tomorrow you’ll be gone, but tomorrow isn’t here yet_   
_So we’ll see how long we stay, if you’ll be mine until the sunset.”_

~~~~~

Jackson seemed to have made a wide array of friends throughout the school by the third week he was in class, jumping between cliques like they didn’t actually exist. He had friends on his fencing team, from classes, from weekend parties-- from everywhere he went. He made sure every day at lunch to drop by JB’s table until he one day finally showed up at the beginning of the lunch period, complaining loudly.

“Hyung! It’s been three weeks and you haven’t introduced me to any of your friends. You promised!” He said, pushing out his bottom lip and making JB laugh. Granted, the older had mentioned it in passing at least a week before and probably didn’t remember having said it, but Jackson was curious.

“I didn’t realize you wanted to meet them so badly. I think they’re in the Arts Lounge for lunch,” He suggested, blowing on the steaming bowl of noodles.

“Wait, right now? Hyung, they go here and you haven’t introduced me to them? In three whole weeks!”

“Of course they go here, where did you think they went?”

“I don’t know, I’ve just never seen you with anybody here. What was I supposed to think?” He argued, dropping his eyes to JB’s open laptop. “Hyung, take a break from your project and introduce me.”

JB sighed, shaking his head. He had… He had a lot of work to do but Jackson was looking at him with those big puppy dog eyes and he felt his resolve (and his ability to focus) melting away. “Come on, bring your food. They’re literally downstairs, you’ve probably met some of them already.”

  
Jackson trailed behind, carrying his tray of food as they went downstairs to a room Jackson had never been in. JB held the door open for him and he looked around as he walked in. The space was large and open, or perhaps it just felt very open with all the furniture pushed off to the sides. There were a bunch of empty dishes on a table off to the side and about 10 people scattered around, lounging on the couches and arm chairs. A few of them were in the middle of the room dancing to music coming from some kind of speaker system up above. As a few sets of eyes fell on him, the people yelled and called JB’s name, laughing. Jackson waited, looking back to JB quickly for some kind of introduction.

“Hey guys, this is Jackson. He’s new… ish.” JB said, motioning for Jackson to follow him further into the room. He dropped his bag, falling into one of the chairs and setting his food in his lap.

A few people greeted Jackson as he mirrored JB, noticing a few vaguely familiar faces.

“So, introductions. My name is Jinyoung,” He pointed at the two still standing in the middle. “That’s Hoseok and Yugyeom. That’s Mark, Krystal, Jin, Youngjae, Namjoon, BamBam, and Amber.” He said, and everybody waved as Jinyoung pointed.

“You don’t have to remember all of them the first time,” JB teased and Jackson grinned at him.

“I bet you I will.” He teased back, picking at his food and then looking back at everyone.

He ended up getting every name right, but matching it with the wrong person. Even the only two girls in the room, he mixed up their names. By the time they needed to head to class, Jackson had everyone in the room rolling on the floor laughing by playfully arguing with JB as to whose fault it was that he’d guessed wrong (“All I’m saying, hyung, is that you didn’t introduce me to anybody and therefore it doesn’t count.”)

They had a tradition, Jinyoung informed Jackson, that whoever lost a game at the beginning of lunch had to take all their dishes back to the cafeteria. Even though JB and Jackson didn’t play, Namjoon insisted on taking their dishes, saying it was the least he could do since Jackson had finally convinced JB to eat lunch with them. Jackson laughed and JB rolled his eyes, yelling “Don’t trip like last time” as Namjoon waked away, earning himself a middle finger from the pink-haired boy.

“I like them,” Jackson said quietly as he and JB gathered their bags and watched the others pile out of the room.

“Trust me, they like you too. Who wouldn’t.” He said, patting Jackson’s shoulder as he headed towards the door. After a few steps, he turned to see Jackson still standing across the room and frowned. “You coming?”

Jackson grinned, nodding. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m coming.” He said, hurrying across the room. “Hyung, can we eat lunch here again tomorrow?”

JB groaned, scrunching up his nose at the other. “You’re going to make me be social, aren’t you?” He teased, throwing an arm around Jackson’s shoulder and leaning on him dramatically. “Yeah, if you want. I don’t mind.”

JB didn’t notice, but Jackson definitely leaned in closer.

~~~~~

  
They started having lunch in the Arts Lounge every day, meeting up outside the cafeteria after they picked up their food and walking down together. Jackson convinced JB that some sort of social atmosphere would give a boost to his creative process and make him even more productive during other times of the day. He didn’t quite believe it would have any effect but he gave the younger what he wanted anyway. Jackson found out Amber and Mark were in one of his larger lectures and started sitting with them in class too. Hoseok, who listed off 3 different nicknames that Jackson could call him, was a dancer and planned to open his own studio. Jin and Namjoon were dating and disgustingly cute all the time. Namjoon was clumsy as hell, like JB had teased him about on the first day, and knocked over at least one music stand each day. Everybody was great and even though Jackson knew nothing about making music they were all really welcoming.  
JB found himself alone outside of the cafeteria one afternoon, staring between the empty table he had frequented in the months before Jackson came and the stairs that would lead him down to his friends. It felt weird now, going without Jackson. The younger had sent him a text that morning complaining of a whole host of symptoms that promised to keep him bedridden and feeling like death all day. JB wished him well, told him to drink some tea and get lots of sleep, then gone about his normal routine until now. It took him a solid minute to decide that he was being stupid and he should just go hang out with his friends like normal. When did he start needing Jackson to do that?

“Hey, where’s Jackson? He wasn’t in class today.” Amber asked as he entered the Lounge, falling into his normal seat.

“Sick, he texted this morning saying he wouldn’t be here.” He explained, setting aside his bag.

“So, I gotta ask. Is there a thing between you two?” Jinyoung cut in, slurping at his soup as most of the others nodded and those who were having separate conversations tuned in as if on cue.

“A what? Between Jackson and I?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. “What thing?”

“A thing, a dating kind of thing!” Jinyoung continued, waving his arms around. “You guys are together literally all the time.”

JB paused, frowning. “We’re friends,”

“You flirt with him, and in all the time I’ve known you don’t flirt with anyone.” Mark said from the other side of the oblong circle of chairs they had formed.

“I don’t flirt with him!” A chorus of disagreement rang out from almost everyone there.

“You totally do, you’re worse than Jin and Namjoon.” JB shot a glare at Youngjae who burst out laughing like it was the funniest thing.

“Seriously, they’re right. Trust us, we know you better than you know yourself.” Amber said, throwing a pencil at Youngjae who was still laughing. “Do you like him?”

“Of course I like him, we’re friends.” He emphasized, blushing.

“But do you like like him?” JB just frowned into his bowl, not answering.

“Guys, leave him alone. His relationship or lackthereof with Jackson is not any of your business.” Jin chimed in, sending all of them glares.

They all begrudgingly obeyed, turning their attention to Hoseok who was learning some new girl band dance in the middle of the room and trying to get Yugyeom to come dance with him.

As their lunch period passed, JB sat quietly. He was pretty sure he liked Jackson but he wasn’t sure if Jackson liked him and that was kind of the important part here, right? And, of course, his phone buzzed after a few minutes of being lost in his thoughts in a very speak-of-the-devil fashion.

 

JW: You ate lunch with your friends today right? I don’t need to drag my ass to school and force you to be social like usual ;)  
_IJ: No, I ate with them. And they’re your friends too!_  
JW: Haha whatever, our friends. You don’t miss me too much do you

JB paused, staring at the text and then glancing back up at his friends. Maybe they were right about him liking Jackson, but Jackson teased everybody. Jackson was nice to everybody and friends with everybody and JB was pretty sure he wasn’t any different. His phone buzzed again in his hands, pulling him back to reality.

JW: That was a joke btw  
_IJ: No, I know I know sorry I got distracted_  
JW: Lol well have a good rest of your day  
_IJ: Are you feeling better?_  
JW: A little  
_IJ: :(_  
 _IJ: And, yes_  
JW: What?  
_IJ: I miss you too much so take care of yourself and feel better_  
JW: Aww hyung!!  
_IJ: Shut up, I have to go to class_  
JW: Hyung lunch isn’t over for another fifteen minutes… ;)  
_IJ: Aren’t you supposed to be sick?_  
JW: Just because I’m sick doesn’t mean I can’t read a clock  
_IJ: You should be sleeping, go to sleep_  
JW: I could take a nap, yeah  
JW: Talk to you later  
JW: And I miss you too :P

JB tucked his phone into his bag, smiling and shaking his head. Jinyoung moved over from the other side of the couch, leaning on JB and grinning.

“So who ya texting, Jaebum.” He asked quietly, tilting his head to the side with innocent eyes.

“Shut up,” JB mumbled, putting aside his empty tray and turning his attention to the others in the group who were now trying to learn the new dance.

“Come on! We’ve been friends forever, you can tell me!” He prodded.

“Fine, you’re right but it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t like me.” JB pointed out, trying to sound smug for foiling Jinyoung’s plans and now disappointed in the situation. He didn’t think he succeeded very well.

“Yes, but he does like you so that’s not a problem.”

“He doesn’t.”

“He does!” Jinyoung insisted, shoving JB’s shoulder lightly. “He likes you and he always flirts back when you flirt with him.”

“He doesn’t, he flirts with everybody. No, what I meant to say is he’s nice to everybody, he teases everybody. It’s not flirting, it’s just Jackson being Jackson.”

“You’re wrong,” Jinyoung said simply. “But I respect your right to be wrong and emotionally constipated for now. But I am so going to say I told you so when I turn out to be right.”

“You’re never going to get that chance,”

“Then let’s bet on it.”

“Oh look at the time, I have a question for my teacher before class starts.”

Jinyoung laughed as JB hurried out the door. He so would have won that bet.

~~~~~

It was a Saturday night in early July, a week or so before their school let out for a month, and Jackson was staying over at JB’s house. He’d been over a few times and JB had gone over to his house, usually to study or hang out on the weekends. JB’s parents were out with some friends, probably late into the night, giving the boys money for take out and the run of the house.

“What am I going to do during break when I don’t get to see you every day,” Jackson whined, sprawled out on the floor of JB’s living room. He’d bypassed all of the furniture, instead going straight for the rug for some reason.

“We’ll still hang out, and it’s only for a little bit, a month or so.” JB said, picking up another slice of pizza.

“But it won’t be the same! And we won’t eat lunch with everyone like usual, and we won’t have classes together.”

“We don’t have any classes together,” JB pointed out, amused.

“No, not us. Me and the others.” Jackson said, sitting up.

“Wow, and here I thought it was me that you would miss,”  
Jackson sighed, crawling onto the couch and flopping onto his back with his head resting on JB’s thigh. “I’ll miss you the most but I’ll miss them too, they’re my friends.”

“Well, as long as you miss me the most.”

Jackson frowned, looking up at him. “Of course I will, who would I miss more?”

“You and Mark are pretty close,” the elder pointed out after a second.

“Not as close as us.”

“Amber, you guys speak English and Mandarin together like crazy. Like a mixture of all three languages at once,” he said, laughing.

“Yeah, but we’re not as close as you and I.”

“Fine, fine, you’re right. We’re the closest.” JB conceded, laughing.

“What about you? You’ll miss Jinyoung,” Jackson said, his voice wavering enough to make JB frown.

“Yeah, I guess. We usually work together over the summer though so it’s okay. Tutoring.”

Jackson pouted, looking away. “Oh,”

“Oh? Oh, what?” Jackson ignored the question, lifting his head up to take a bite of JB’s pizza. “Oh, what?” JB repeated.

“Oh, nothing. Just Oh. I didn’t know you worked together.” The younger said, pausing. “You’re pretty close, huh?”

“I guess, yeah. We’ve known each other for a long time, since we started school.” As an afterthought, he smiled and caught Jackson’s eyes adding, “Not as close as us.”

That made Jackson grin and roll his eyes. “Shut up.”

“We’re the closest, forever and always,”

“Only because I never leave you alone. I’m the cornerstone in this relationship, I’m the one holding this thing together.” Jackson insisted, just a hint of teasing in his serious expression.

“Where would I be without you?” JB joked back, and Jackson let the conversation between them drop off, reaching for another piece of pizza.

“But seriously, I don’t know what I was doing before you came along. Something was… I was like retreating from everybody. Isolating myself or something, I don’t know. You changed everything, I don’t think I’ve ever thanked you for that.” JB continued, his voice soft.

“All I did was remind you how much fun your friends were, you don’t need to thank me.” Jackson said, sitting up and moving away from JB to eat his pizza. “I should thank you, I was new and you were my friend. That’s a lot bigger than whatever I did.”

“You didn’t need me though, you made tons of friends,” the other said, waving Jackson’s comment off. “I need you much more than you need me.”

“That’s ridiculous, you’ve got a big group of friends. You don’t actually need me, you’ve got them. They’re just my friend because I’m your friend, so I need you more than you need me.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it, they’re just as much your friends as mine. You’re closer with a lot of them than I am!” JB argued, a little annoyance in his voice. “Besides, you have a ton of friends outside of us anyways.”

“Yeah, none of them are like you though. It’s different.”

JB scoffed. “How is it different? You’d be just as close with them as you are with me if you spent more time with them. You’re just that kind of person.”

“I don’t like any of them as much as I like you,” Jackson hinted cautiously, testing the waters.  
The admission fell on deaf ears though, and JB kept arguing, not realizing the implication behind Jackson’s words.

“But I don’t like them like I like you, hyung.” He pressed further, eyes fixed on his pizza like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

“Oh whatever, I’m nothing special,” JB said, obliviously picking up his plate again and standing up. “You want another soda? Mine’s empty, I’m going to go grab another.”

~~~~~

Jackson went to Jinyoung first since he and JB were probably closest. He figured that Jinyoung already knew, considering every time he and JB flirted at lunch Jinyoung would wiggle his eyebrows at Jackson. He always made sure to do it when JB wasn’t looking so at first, Jackson thought he was being made fun of. Eventually, he figured out that it was the younger’s way of urging Jackson on.

Jackson found him in the Arts Lounge early one morning, half an hour before Jackson was usually at school. He knew the other was always early and so he dragged himself out of bed extra early to corner JB’s best friend.

“I need some advice,” he said, tossing his bag onto an empty chair and throwing himself onto the couch.

“Be blunt.” Jinyoung said, not looking up from the textbook in his lap. “I love JB, but he is dense in every sense of the word. Well, that’s not true. He’s not dense in the sense that he’s dumb. He’s smart, but he’s socially dense.”

“But I was! I was blunt, I told him that I didn’t like anybody else like I like him and he just got me soda.” Jackson whined, pouting his bottom lip and sagging against the back of the couch.

“That’s too vague. Blunt, be blunt.”

When Jinyoung told him that a nice, homemade sign saying something like “I like your Jae-BUM,” Jackson decided he’d made a mistake.

He went to Mark, who told him to write JB a song. It sounded like a good idea but after sitting through their whole lunch period with a pencil and a notebook, writing down random words like ‘caring’ and ‘sweet’ and ‘really fucking cute all the time,’ he decided that JB was the songwriter in their relationship. Briefly, he considered dedicating one of his fencing competitions to JB but he didn’t think JB would appreciate it being so public and obnoxious. He wanted to do something small.

He went to Jin (and by extension, Namjoon), who told him that it didn’t matter what he did because JB would definitely love his confession regardless of how it was done. Namjoon threw in a couple comments about the short time we all have on this earth and now wasting time with the inevitability of death looming so close on our fragile lives. Jin elbowed his boyfriend playfully, telling Jackson that what the other had meant to say was the little things counted more than any grand gesture ever would.

  
He talked to a few of the others, coming back with nothing useful besides ‘hurry up we’ve been waiting too long to see you guys dating we’re getting old here and school is almost over for the year.’ So throwing out all the advice, he decided to go to the one person that knew JB better than all of their friends: JB himself.

  
They were meeting at the park to hang out and do some homework after classes so Jackson spent the rest of his day like a zombie, half paying attention in classes and taking the bare minimum of notes so his teachers didn’t yell at him in class. He hurried out to the front of the school when the final bell rang, bouncing up and down on the pavement as he waited.

  
“You seem excited, did you get to a good part in that novel for your lit class?” JB asked, appearing from nowhere behind Jackson.

“Oh, yeah. Something like that. Are you ready to go?”

As they walked Jackson pondered whether it was better to bring it up now or later at the park, but apparently his pondering (translation: his quietness) was enough to tip JB off to something.

“Everything okay?” He asked, and Jackson looked up at him with wide eyes. “You look like you have something you want to say…” JB added as the younger boy’s mouth opened and closed like a fish.

“I-yeah. I have a question. If you were going to, you know, be asked out by somebody how would you want them to do it?” The words rushed out of his mouth as soon as he began speaking and then he clamped his teeth down on his lower lip to keep him from rambling further. He always did that when he got nervous.

“Oh, um, I don’t really know.” JB said, distracted by the fact that if Jackson was asking for advice about asking confessing, then that meant Jackson had someone that he wanted to confess to. “Why? Who are you thinking about asking out?”

Jackson just waved his questions off. “But hyung, would you want them to wave around a sign in front of the school in the morning or write you a song or send you a basket of fruit with a note attached or what? Come on, you’ve got to have some idea!”

JB just shrugged, fiddling with his keys in his pocket. “I don’t know, I’ve never had anybody ask me out before. What about a gift? Like something small that is special to that person, that would be nice right?”

“A gift?” Jackson asked, nodding. “Yeah, okay. A gift, that sounds like a good idea. Thanks, hyung.”

JB leaned over, shoving Jackson lightly. “Where would your love life be without me, huh?” He teased, making Jackson grin back at him.

“Hyung, you have no idea.”

~~~~~

A few days later, Jackson asked JB to meet him in the Arts Lounge after classes ended. It was the day after a competition so he had a day off from fencing practice and JB just figured they would be catching up, working on homework and that while hanging out like usual. He’d been on edge ever since Jackson had mentioned confessing to somebody, feeling bad about hoping that his best friend would be rejected by the object of his affections. He was trying to force himself to stop looking at Jackson as someone he was interested in, someone he wanted to flirt with and go on dates with. Still, he hurried out of class and arrived to find the Arts Lounge still empty. Settling onto one of the couches, he started pulling out his schoolwork as Jackson came bounding into the room. He grinned at JB, pushing the door shut behind him and hurrying over to the couch as well.

“Hi, hyung. How was your day?” He asked, unzipping his bag and letting it set open on his lap.

“Okay, how was yours?”

“Good! But I’ve been really nervous all day. I got you something.” He said, pulling out a rectangular package wrapped in simple red paper and pushing it into JB’s hands.

“Oh, thanks… It isn’t my birthday or anything.” He said, looking at Jackson in confusion.

“I know, just open it!” JB nodded, pulling at the paper slowly until a thick, leather-bound book slid into his hands and he looked up at Jackson, still confused. “It’s a notebook but there’s something written in the back from me.” The younger explained, more shy now that JB was actually holding it. A flood of doubt ran through his mind, about whether the gift was good enough and whether JB would receive his confession well.  
JB, on the other hand, was thumbing through the heavy cardstock pages with admiration as he searched for the note. It was definitely Jackson’s handwriting, more neat than usual but still sloppy and slanted and wild. Before he started reading, he looked back up at Jackson who pointed at the note and urged him on, nodding excitedly.

_“JB-hyung,_   
_It feels like I’ve known you for a long time now even though we’ve been friends for only a few months. You were the first person who was nice to me, the first person who welcomed me here, and the first person I wanted to spend time with even though the only thing I knew about you was that your English wasn’t good. Your English is good by the way, and I’ll teach you more if you want. And I want you to teach me about music, too. I’ll teach you English and Cantonese and all the French I know, even though I don’t know much. It’s the language of love, right? That’s what I’m getting at here. I want you to want to be around me like I want to be around you. I think you do, which is why I’m writing this letter and why I got you a gift. It’s a book, like the book you write your song lyrics in. I want you to write song lyrics about me, about us. I want there to be an us. Jinyoung told me to just tell you, “I like your jae-bum” (and I do but that’s not the point) and Mark-hyung told me to write you a song (but I’m really bad at it, trust me) and a lot of people gave me advice but I thought yours was the best. And if you don’t want to go out on a date with me then we can still be friends like we’ve always been, but I’d really really like it if we were more than that._   
_Jackson”_

When he looked back up, Jackson’s arms were wrapped around his backpack and his bottom lip was caught between his teeth as he tended to do when he was nervous. JB cleared his throat, closing the cover of the notebook and smoothing his hands over the cover. It was a beautiful gift, similar to the ones that he usually bought and the one Jackson always saw him writing and doodling in. Somehow, it felt more special.

Clearing his throat, he looked up and opened his mouth to speak only to be cut off.

“Hyung you don’t have to say anything, you can just rip the page out and we can go back to the way things were if you want.” He said quickly, then bit down on his lip again so hard JB was afraid Jackson was going to hurt himself.

The older shook his head, setting the book aside and moving closer to Jackson on the couch. He reached up, gently grabbing Jackson’s lip and pulling it away from his teeth with a smirk.

“What makes you think I want to go back to the way things were?”

Jackson let out a exasperated (and possibly relieved) sigh, his shoulders sagging so his forehead fell against JB’s shoulder. “Hyung, you can’t tease me like that! You were quiet for so long that I thought you were going stop being friends with me altogether!” He whined.

JB, on the other hand, took the opportunity to push Jackson’s backpack out of his lap and pull the smaller boy into a hug. “Of course not, I like you too. A lot.” He said quietly.

“I’m just not as brave as you are I guess. I didn’t think you actually liked me back.”

Jackson snorted, resting comfortably on JB’s shoulder. “I told you that I liked you weeks ago! And I only ever flirt with you, not anybody else. And I flirt with you literally all the time, hyung, how could you not be sure if I liked you back?”

“You’re so nice to everyone, I thought you were just nice to me because we’re friends. You talk about how we’re really good friends all the time.” JB insisted, his hand moving up from Jackson’s back to stroke his hair gently.

“I always talked about how close we were! Not how we were really good friends, how close were were and how I liked you differently than I liked my other friends! Jinyoung is right, hyung, you’re dense,” He teased, sitting up and causing JB to drop his hands back into his lap.

“We got here eventually, that’s what matters.” JB responded diplomatically, his eyes dropping to Jackson’s lips. “So what are we?”

  
Jackson huffed. “Well I was hoping you’d be my boyfriend and I thought you were on board with the idea too.” He said, gesturing towards the gift. “You know, with the whole buy them a gift when you confess, I thought I was pretty clear.”

JB laughed, his fingers inching forward onto Jackson’s knee. “You did, perfectly clear, I was just making it more clear. And I wanted to hear you call me your boyfriend.” And when Jackson opened his mouth, to complain or argue or tease or just speak like he always did, JB leaned in and shut him up with a long, slow kiss.

  
“Boyfriends,” JB said when they pulled away, hearts beating fast from the nervousness and exhilaration of it all. “I like the sound of that.”

  
“Now you’re stuck with me, though. You’re never going to get rid of me.” Jackson teased, lacing his fingers together with JB’s.

  
“Why would I want to do that?”

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think, requests are welcome <3


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